1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to fitted garments such as are worn for dance performances and practice, and in particular, to an improved dancewear design providing increased comfort and utility without diminishing dancewear aesthetics. More particularly, the present invention relates to a dance tight having an improved foot stocking designed for providing maximum comfort and utility when worn for dance, gymnastics, and the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
Specially styled dance garments and costumes are often required for a variety of reasons relating to performance functionality and aesthetics. This is particularly true, for example, in classic dance practice and performance forums in which dancers are required to wear one or more skintight garments covering the body from the neck down or from the waist down. As utilized herein, “tights” refer generally to such formfitting pant-like garments such as leortards, unitards and the like worn from the upper body, hip, or leg level area down to the feet of the wearer.
A typical leotard dance tight design is elastically adhered around the wearer's waist and is anchored from the bottom by a particular stocking design. The three basic stocking designs used with dance tights include footed, footless and stirrup-type designs. Footless tights, as the name implies, have no foot covering or “stocking” portion and are used for practicing or performing dance, gymnastics, and the like, without shoes, while footed tights include generally enclosed pockets into which the wearer's feet are enclosed when the garment is worn in a similar manner as full footed pantyhose. Stirrup designs utilize straps passing under the arches of the wearer's feet and in this manner are typically utilized to maintain a straight downward traction on the leg portions of the tights. A hybrid of the footless and footed tights design is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,571, issued to Juniman, which describes a stocking having a main tubular portion terminating at the foot end with a toe pocket portion and a foot opening collar. When the convertible stocking is worn, the foot opening collar forms an elastic aperture at approximately the mid-sole region of the bottom of the wearer's foot when the stocking is worn in the footed manner, and which may then be stretched around to release the foot therethrough when the stocking is worn in the footless manner.
As worn for dance performances, tights are used primarily for aesthetic reasons and for ballet dancing are worn with specialized footwear in the form of soft ballet shoes or pointe shoes. Ballerinas strive to achieve the illusion of weightless hovering by rapidly skimming the floor, spinning and sustaining poses on the tips of their toes, or “sur les pointes.” The fundamental aesthetics of ballet call for a long, tapered line of the leg, which is enhanced by the almost conical shape of a ballet or pointe shoe. The aesthetic effect is enhanced by the continuity in appearance from the ballerina's foot to the ballerina's leg enabled by wearing footed dance tights that cover the otherwise exposed skin of the dancer's legs and feet including the top arch or metatarsus region of the feet. Footed tights are therefore worn by dancers under ballet or pointe shoes or other types of lower vamp or open-throat type dance shoes such as for jazz and tap dancing.
While preserving the appearance of continuity from the dancer's leg to the shoe, full footed stockings impose substantial confinement on the dancer's foot and toes resulting in diminished freedom of foot and toe movement and reducing the dancer's sensitivity and ability to sense or “feel” the disposition of his or her feet thus diminishing the desired “barefoot” feel. Furthermore, by virtually eliminating any direct skin-to-shoe contact, footed stockings potentially compromise the traction at various foot-to-shoes boundary points. The lack of skin-to-shoe contact at the back heel area is particularly problematic for losing backheel traction when wearing pointe shoes.
It can therefore be appreciated that a need exists for an improved dance tight stocking that preserves the continuity of appearance from the leg to the exposed top of the foot while eliminating the discomfort and reduced traction incident to footed stockings. The present invention addresses such a need.